Detachable carton handle

ABSTRACT

A DETACHABLE CARTON HANDLE FOR USE ON LARGE MILK CARTONS AND THE LIKE, AND WHICH INCLUDES A RECTANGULAR HOUSING COMPRISING A U-SHAPED REAR HOUSING PORTION AND A MATING U-SHAPED FRONT HOUSING PORTION HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO SAID REAR HOUSING PORTION, WHEREBY THE RECTANGULAR HOUSING MAY BE OPENED FOR DETACHABLY MOUNTING THE HANDLE ON A CARTON. A RELEASABLE LOCKING MEANS IS PROVIDED FOR SECURING THE U-SHAPED REAR HOUSING PORTION TO THE U-SHAPED FRONT HOUSING PORTION AFTER THESE PORTIONS HAVE BEEN MOUNTED ON A CARTON. A HANDLE IS ATTACHED TO THE U-SHAPED REAR HOUSING PORTION. A RETAINER MEMBER IS INTEGRALLY FORMED ON THE REAR HOUSING PORTION FOR INSERTION INTO THE OPENING ON ONE SIDE OF THE UPPER END OF A CARTON UNDER THE TOP SEAL JOINT AT A POINT OPPOSITE TO THE POURING LIP OF THE CARTON.

DETACHABLE CARTON HANDLE Filed May 4, 1970 INVIiN'IOR. JAMES B. SIMMS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,615,115 DETACHABLE CARTON HANDLE James B. Simms, 8441 Birch Road, Taylor, Mich. 48180 Filed May 4, 1970, Ser. No. 34,383 Int. Cl. A47b 95/02 US. Cl. 29431.2 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A detachable carton handle for use on large milk cartons and the like, and which includes a rectangular housmg comprising a U-shaped rear housing portion and a mating U-shaped front housing portion hingedly connected to said rear housing portion, whereby the rectangular housing may be opened for detachably mount ing the handle on a carton. A releasable locking means is provided for securing the U-shaped rear housing portion to the U-shaped front housing portion after these portions have been mounted on a carton. A handle is attached to the U-shaped rear housing portion. A retainer member is integrally formed on the rear housing portion for insertion into the opening on oneside of the upper end of a carton under the top seal joint at a point opposite to the pouring lip of the carton.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a novel and improved detachable carton handle, and more particularly to a carton handle which may be quickly and easily mounted on a milk carton or the like.

At the present time, milk, fruit juices, and other fluids are sold on the market in large cartons, as for example in gallon and half-gallon size cartons. These cartons are used because it is economical to make these cartons and to fill and seal the same. These cartons are generally made from a suitable paper board covered with a plastic. A disadvantage of these large cartons is that they are difficult to handle and to pour a fluid from the same. Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved detachable carton handle which may be quickly and easily mounted on a large carton, and with which a large carton may be easily handled and the contents thereof poured out in an efficient and easy manner.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a detachable carton handle which is simple and compact in construction, economical to manufacture, and light in weight.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved detachable carton handle which is adapted for use on large cartons and containers.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved detachable carton handle which embodies a pyramidal shaped retainer member, and a releasable locking means for securing the handle to a carton.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved detachable carton handle which is easy to use and which may be quickly secured to a carton, or quickly detached from a carton, and which is adapted to provide a secure means for lifting and transporting a fluid carton.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved detachable carton handle which includes a rectangular housing comprising a U- shaped rear housing portion and a U-shaped front housing portion, means hingedly connecting one of the ends of the U-shaped rear housing portion to one of the ends of the U-shaped front housing portion, releasable locking Patented Oct. 26, 1971 means detachably connecting the other end of the U- shaped housing portion to the other end of the U-shaped front housing portion, a handle attached to said -U-shaped rear housing portion, and a retainer means carried on said U-shaped rear housing portion and projecting into a recess in the carton for gripping engagement with the carton.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, appended claims, and the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevational perspective view of a detachable carton handle made in accordance with the principles of the present invention, and showing the handle operatively attached to the upper end of a conventional coated paper board milk carton.

FIG. 2 is an elevational section view of the carton handle. structure shown in FIG. 1, taken along the line 22 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the detachable carton handle illustrated in FIG. 1, and showing the handle in a released and detached condition.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, and in particular to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 generally designates a large size milk carton, as for example, a gallon milk carton, on which is operatively mounted an illustrative carton handle 11. The numeral 12 designates the carton pouring spout. The numeral 13 designates the top seal joint member of the carton 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the numeral 14 indicates the lower end of the seal joint 13 which remains after the pouring spout 12 is opened. The numeral 15 in FIG. 2 designates a pyramidal shaped retainer which is adapted to extend into the recess under the top seal joint 13 to assist in holding the handle 11 on the carton 18.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the numeral 17 designates the horizontal peak of the pyramidal shaped retainer. The retainer 15 is adapted to extend into the recess formed on the. upper end of the carton 10' between the carton closure panel 16, which slopes inwardly and upwardly, and the adjacent side closure panels on the upper end of the carton 10. The carton structure is conventional and the recess formed on the upper end of the carton is easily accessible to the retainer 15. As shown in FIG. 3, the retainer 15 is provided on the upper side thereof with the two upwardly sloping side faces 18 and 19 which terminate at the peak 17. As best seen in FIG. 2 the bottom face of the retainer 15 slopes downwardly and outwardly as indicated by the numeral 22. The bottom face 22 terminates along the line indicated by the numeral 20. A handle member 21 is integrally formed on the outer vertical face of the retainer 15.

The carton handle of the present invention includes a U-shaped rear housing portion generally indicated by the numeral 24 and a U-shaped front housing portion generally indicated by the numeral 25. The rear housing portion 24 includes the rear wall 26, and the two integral side walls 27 and 28. The U-shaped front housing portion 25 includes the front wall 29 and the two integral side walls 30 and 31. As best seen in FIG. 3 the side walls 28 and 30 are hingedly connected by a suitable hinge means 32. The side walls 27 and 31 are releasably connected by a suitable releasable locking means generally indicated by the numeral 33 in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the releasable locking means 33 includes a mounting plate 35 which is fixedly secured t the rear housing side wall 27 by a pair of rivets 36. A locking clasp carrier plate 38 is swingably mounted at its back end by the hinge means 37 to one end of the mounting plate 35. A clasp operating handle 39 is fixed to the front end of the clasp carrier plate 38. The clasp comprises a rectangular wire loop member including a front vertical wire leg 40 which is integral with the horizontal lower and upper legs 41 and 42, respectively. A pair of vertical rear leg portions 43 and 44 are swingably mounted in a suitable hole in the front end of the clasp carrier plate 38. The locking clasp is adapted to be swung over a locking clasp hook 45 which is fixedly mounted on a mounting plate 46 which is fixedly secured by any suitable means to the outer face of the front housing side wall 31.

The carton handle of the present invention is mounted on a carton by swinging the front housing portion 25 to an open position and then slidably mounting the rear housing portion'26 onto the rear side of the upper end of the carton so that the retainer member is slidably received in the recess under the top seal joint 13. The front housing portion is then swung into an enclosing position around the front side of the carton 10 and the releasable locking means 13 is then operated. The clasp is swung over the book 45 and the handle member 39 is then swung backward toward the plate 35 so as to bring the plate 38 in a locked parallel position against the outer face of the plate 35.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change.

What I claim is:

1. A detachable carton handle for mounting on the upper end of a carton having a sealed top end and a recess formed under said sealed top end, comprising:

(a) a rectangular housing including a U-shaped rear housing portion and a U-shaped front housing portion;

(b) means hingedly connecting one of the ends of the U-shaped rear housing portion to one of the ends of the U-shaped front housing portion;

(0) releasable locking means detachably connecting the other end of the U-shaped rear housing portion to the other end of the U-shaped front housing portion;

(d) a handle attached to said U-shaped rear housing portion; and,

(e) a retainer member carried on said U-shaped rear housing portion and projecting inwardly into said recess on said carton.

2. A detachable carton handle as defined in claim 1,

wherein:

(a) said retainer member is pyramidal in shape.

3. A detachable carton handle as defined in claim 1,

wherein:

(a) said releasable locking means comprises a clasp swingably mounted on said other end of the U-shaped rear housing portion and operative to be releasably engaged with a clasp hook fixedly mounted on the other end of the U-shaped front housing portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,056,622 10/1962 Hilderbrandt et al. 220 H 2,992,847 7/1961. Lemke et al.. 294-312 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner D. L. TROUTMAN, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

